Current events of national and international importance; History of India and Indian National Movement; Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World; Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues etc.; Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives etc.; General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation; General Science.

Physical Geology (Principle of uniformitarianism; origin, differentiation and internal structure of the Earth; origin of atmosphere; earthquakes and volcanoes; continental drift, sea-floor spreading, isostasy, orogeny and plate tectonics; geological action of rivers, wind, glaciers, waves; erosional and depositional landforms; weathering processes and products); Structural Geology (Stress, strain and rheological properties of rocks; planar and linear structures; classification of folds and faults; Mohr's circle and criteria for failure of rocks; ductile and brittle shear in rocks; study of toposheets, V-rules and outcrop patterns; stereographic projections of structural elements); Mineralogy (Elements of symmetry, notations and indices; Bravais lattices; chemical classification of minerals; isomorphism, polymorphism, solid solution and exsolution; silicate structures; physical and optical properties of common rock forming minerals- olivine, garnet, pyroxene, amphibole, mica, feldspar and quartz); Igneous Petrology (Magma types and their evolution; IUGS classification of igneous rocks; forms, structures and textures of igneous rocks; applications of binary and ternary phase diagrams in petrogenesis; magmatic differentiation and assimilation; petrogenesis of granites, basalts, komatiites and alkaline rocks (carbonatite, kimberlite, lamprophyre and nepheline syenite)); Metamorphic Petrology (Limits, types and controls of metamorphism; metamorphic structures- slate, schist and gneiss; metamorphic textures- pre, syn and post tectonic porphyroblasts; concept of metamorphic zone, isograd and facies; geothermal gradients, facies series and plate tectonics); Sedimentology.